Tuesday, 1 June 2010

A Continuation [of sorts]...

Here I am again! (: As I said I would at the end of yesterday's post, today I'm continuing [to ramble] on the topic that I introduced yesterday. I can't seem to stay on topic because of silly brain fog, so bear with me.

I belieeeve I was discussing Jean Harlow just before I ended the post yesterday, so I shall continue in that vein. I suppose I may as well just write about my favourite actresses from those wonderful four decades (20s through 50s, if you'd forgotten!!) and ramble along the way. It's more fun that way.

So, I've mentioned Deborah Kerr and Jean Harlow. I briefly touched on Joan and Bette, but both of them (however much I dislike Joan) deserve more elaboration. I couldn't possibly put both of them in post together (!) so I shall rave about my favourite today: Bette.

Yes, yes, yes...as I said yesterday, I am proud to proclaim myself as being on Team Bette. She was one.of.a.kind. And I love.love.love.her!

Although I'd never seen any of her films until about 3 years ago, I'd always known who she was. I remember my parents making references to the song Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes, which, if you haven't heard it, contains nods to Jean Harlow ("Her hair is Harlow gold...") and the wonderful Greta Garbo ("She got Greta Garbo standoff sighs...") as well as the obvious nod to Miss Davis. Bette was apparently a fan of the song and said in her memoir that "It was a thrill to become a part of the rock generation." Such a typical Bette thing to say. I can hardly imagine Greta Garbo saying something like that.

The first Bette film I watched was the famous All About Eve and I can safely say that I wasn't disappointed one bit. The rest of the cast was amazing (cue my adoration of the grossly underrated actress Celeste Holm) but Bette gave a stunning performance. She was Margo Channing. However, after seeing more of her films, I've realised that she was each and everyone of her characters - and that's what I love about her. I can't remember who said it (it could have been the author of Bette and Joan: The Divine Feud) but I think this quote speaks volumes "Joan was the movie star and Bette was the actress". It's so true. Bette was an actress through and through, whereas Joan and lots of their contemporaries were mere 'movie stars'. I would venture to say that even Joan was more actress than most of the 'actresses' nowadays, however. (That doesn't include Meryl Streep (; You know the type I mean...)

I should probably give her D.O.B. and D.O.D. as everyone likes to know useless bits of info:

Bette Davis: April 5th, 1908 - October 6th, 1989.

Those eyes. That smoulder. Just...wow.

I think I'll take myself off now! As I seem to have managed to only post about Bette Davis today, who knows who I'll be posting about tomorrow!

Here are a few of my favourite photos of Bette and Kim Carnes' Bette Davis Eyes...enjoy!! A presto!

Here you will find my often incoherent ramblings about my favourite classic film stars, reviews of the many films I watch, and various other things pertaining to the wonderful world of classic film. Occasionally I stray from my classic film blog status and post about more recent (i.e. post-1970) films and tv series. Hope you enjoy reading and don't be afraid to comment - I love talking to my fellow film buffs!!